January 14, 2006

The Dragon Painter



Here's a fun book that ought to be out before too long, 'The Dragon Painter'. It's about an ancient Chinese painter who paints dragons that come to life. I'd never done a folk tale book before. It was fun to research the costumes and details for the patterns. Very pictuaresque buildings and architectural styles throughout.



I found this chinese emperor in a book about chinese gardening. He was originally a stone carving done almost 1000 years ago. I thought he'd appreciate it that I brought him back to life to play the role of the emperor in this book. I knew he was perfect the instant I saw him. Too bad he's not around to reward me with a bag of gold coins and jade carvings.


2 comments:

Hagfish said...

Hello John,
I was having connectivity problems the last time I was up, so I wasn't able to tell you how much I like these. They are so wonderful.

I just finished watching The Last Emperor. Funny how life can dovetail sometimes.

Thank you for your visit, and your kind comment.
Regards,
Ann

John Nez said...

Thanks! Glad to see people visiting and it's so nice to hear back from people about my work.

One of the worst things about being an illustrator is that you never hear anything from anyone about your work. It's a bit like working in solitary confinement... Ivory Tower or Padded Cell... changes from day to day.